Severe heatwave hits southern Europe and raises wildfire risks
Young swimmers jump into the water from a rock on a breakwater on a hot day in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Major heatwaves across southern Europe have pushed temperatures above 40C in countries including Italy, Spain and Greece, as local authorities issued fresh warnings over the risk of wildfires.
Experts link the rising frequency and intensity of these heatwaves to climate change, warning that such extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common across Europe's southern region.
Severe heat was recorded in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal before the weekend, with locals and tourists alike taking shelter from the sweltering conditions.
Two-thirds of Portugal were on high alert on Sunday over extreme heat and wildfires, with temperatures expected to top 42C in Lisbon.
Young swimmers jump into the water from a rock on a breakwater on a hot day in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Today's News in 90 Seconds - June 30th
In Italy, a few regions – Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia and Umbria – were planning to ban some outdoor work activities during the hottest hours of the day in response to the record high temperatures. Italian trade unions pushed the government to expand such measures at a national level.
On Sunday, the Italian health ministry placed 21 out of 27 monitored cities under its highest heat alert, including top holiday destinations like Rome, Milan and Naples.
In Rome, tourists tried to seek shade near popular spots like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, using umbrellas and drinking from public water fountains to stay cool.
Germany also saw high temperatures (dpa via AP)
Similar scenes were reported in Milan and Naples, where street vendors sold lemonade to tourists and residents to offer some refreshment from the heat.
Greece was again on high wildfire alert because of extreme weather, with the first summer heat wave expected to continue throughout the weekend.
A large wildfire broke out south of Athens on Thursday, forcing evacuations and road closures near the ancient Temple of Poseidon. Strong winds spread the flames, damaging homes and sending smoke across the sky.
Vulnerable people have been warned to take extra care in the heat (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Experts warned that intense heat can affect daily life, especially for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children.
Local authorities advised against physical activity during the hottest hours of the day, and recommended drinking plenty of fluids.
A Lancet Public Health study published last year highlighted the increasing risk of heat-related deaths because of climate change. The study predicted that heat-related deaths could more than quadruple by mid-century under current climate policies.
While more people die from cold than heat, the study stressed that rising temperatures will offset the benefits of milder winters, leading to a significant net increase in heat-related mortality.
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Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Europe swelters under scorching temperatures as regions issue heat alerts
Forest fires fanned by high winds and hot, dry weather damaged some holiday homes in Turkey as a lingering heatwave covering much of Europe led authorities to raise warnings and tourists to find ways to beat the heat. A heat dome hovered over France, Portugal and Spain to Turkey on Monday, while data from European forecasters suggested other countries were set to broil further in the coming days. Heat warnings were issued for parts of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany with new highs expected on Wednesday before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week. People use a street water fountain during a heatwave in Paris (Christophe Ena/AP) 'Extreme heat is no longer a rare event — it has become the new normal,' UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres tweeted from Seville, Spain, where temperatures hit 42C on Monday. Reiterating his frequent calls for action to fight climate change, Mr Guterres added: 'The planet is getting hotter and more dangerous — no country is immune.' In Portugal — his home country — a reading of 46.6C was registered in Mora, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Lisbon. Weather officials were working to confirm whether that marked a new record for June. Portuguese authorities issued a red heat warning on Monday for seven of 18 districts as temperatures were forecast to hit 43C. The first heat wave of the year has gripped Spain since the weekend and no relief is expected until Thursday, the national weather service said on Monday. Tourists protect themselves from the sun with umbrellas while looking at the Sagrada Familia church on a hot day in Barcelona (Emilio Morenatti/AP) The country appeared to hit a new high for June on Saturday when 46C was recorded in the southern province of Huelva, while Sunday's national average of 28C set a record for a high temperature for June 29 since records were started in 1950. – Forest fires In France, which was almost entirely sweltering in the heatwave on Monday, and where air conditioning remains relatively rare, local and national authorities were taking extra effort to care for homeless and elderly people and people working outside. Some tourists were putting off plans for some rigorous outdoor activities. 'We were going to do a bike tour today, but we decided because it was going be so warm not to do the bike tour,' said Andrea Tyson, 46, who was visiting Paris from New Philadelphia, Ohio, on Sunday. Misting stations doused passers-by along the River Seine in the French capital. France's first significant forest fires of the season consumed 400 hectares (988 acres) of woods on Sunday and Monday in the Aude region in the south. Water-dumping planes and some 300 firefighters were mobilised, the regional emergency service said. Tourists were evacuated from one campground in the area. An Icelandic horse drinks water from a water hose at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany (Michael Probst/AP) In Turkey, forest fires fanned by strong winds damaged some holiday homes in Izmir's Doganbey region and forced the temporary closure of the airport in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities evacuated four villages as a precaution, the Forestry Ministry said. Firefighters were also battling a blaze that broke out on Monday near residential areas in Hatay province, near Turkey's border with Syria, that prompted the evacuation of 1,500 people. In Italy, the Health Ministry put 21 cities under its level three 'red' alert, which indicates 'emergency conditions with possible negative effects' on healthy, active people as well as at-risk old people, children and chronically ill people. Regional governments in north-western Liguria and southern Sicily put restrictions on outdoor work, such as construction and agricultural labour, during the peak heat hours. The mercury was rising further north, too. – 'People who need protection' In southern Germany, temperatures of up to 35C were expected on Monday, and they were forecast to creep higher until midweek – going as high as 39C on Wednesday. Some German towns and regions imposed limits on how much water can be taken from rivers and lakes. At the Berlin zoo, elephants were showered with water and bears treated with blocks of ice containing fruit.
RTÉ News
15 hours ago
- RTÉ News
'Unprecedented' alerts in France amid European heatwave
A punishing heatwave has gripped southern Europe, prompting authorities to issue health and wildfire warnings as temperatures are expected to soar again. France, Italy, Portugal and Spain have been sweltering for several days as the mercury climbed to 44C in some places. Temperatures in southern Spain soared to 46C on Saturday, a new record for June, the national weather agency said this morning. The mercury climbed to its new high in Huelva, near the border with Portugal, edging out the previous record, 45.2C that was set in 1965 in Seville, it said. France's national weather agency has placed Paris and 15 other departments on its highest weather alert level. Paris and the 15 other departments would move up to the red alert level, a warning last issued in August 2023, due to the severity of the temperatures, Meteo France said. It said 68 other departments would remain on orange, the second highest alert level. "This is unprecedented," Agner Pannier-Runacher, France's ecology transition minister said. Only a small sliver of the country in the northwest was not sweltering, according to the Meteo France weather service, which said the heatwave was due to peak tomorrow and Wednesday. The summer's first major heatwave has seen authorities in the countries along the Mediterranean's northern coast urging people to seek shelter. Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent. Firefighters were on standby after blazes broke out yesterday in France and Turkey, fed by the heat and strong winds. Already last week, Greek firefighters had to battle a forest blaze on the coast south of Athens that forced some evacuations. Spain's weather service AEMET said temperatures in Extremadura and Andalusia, in the south and southwest, had reached up to 44C yesterday. In Madrid, where temperatures approached 40C, 32-year-old photographer Diego Radames told AFPTV: "I feel that the heat we're experiencing is not normal for this time of year. "As the years go by, I have the feeling that Madrid is getting hotter and hotter, especially in the city centre," he added. In Italy, 21 cities across the length of the country were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence, Rome and Catania. Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported a 10% increase in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine. "It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue," he said. Several areas in the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, were under a red warning until tonight, said the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA). Two-thirds of Portugal was also on high alert for extreme heat and forest fires - as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes on Saturday. Scientists say climate change is stoking hotter and more intense heatwaves, particularly in cities where the so-called "urban heat island" effect amplifies temperatures among tightly packed buildings. "The heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years," said Emanuela Piervitali, a researcher at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). "A further increase in temperature and heat extremes is expected in the future, so we will have to get used to temperatures with peaks even higher than those we are experiencing now," she said. The heat is also attracting invasive species, which are thriving in the more tropical climes. ISPRA launched a campaign this week urging fishermen and tourists alike to report sightings of four "potentially dangerous" venomous species. The lionfish, silver-cheeked toadfish, dusky spinefoot and marbled spinefoot are beginning to appear in waters off southern Italy as the Mediterranean warms, it said. In France, experts warned that the heat was also severely hitting biodiversity. Meteorologist with the Irish Weather Channel Cathal Nolan attributed the soaring temperatures across Europe to a "heat dome" that is settling across the continent. "The reason we're calling it a heat dome is where we have these large areas of high pressure, these anticyclones essentially act a like a lid on a pot, whereby the air is virtually trapped underneath. It sits for a couple of days or an extended period of time, and we see the temperatures building, day-on-day," he said. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Nolan said: "During these particular systems under the area of high pressure, the air descends. As it descends it's getting compressed and it's trapping down that very warm air across the surface. That's why we're seeing these particularly extreme temperatures at the moment." He said the heat is not just located across the Iberian Peninsula, "it's up through many parts of France, where temperatures will push close to 40C today and even in through much of central Europe, and transferring across to the Balkans and later on towards Greece as well. "Temperatures across these areas will certainly be up into the high 30s, and in some cases into the low 40s, as we go through today and indeed over the next couple of days," he added.
Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Spain records highs of 46C and France under alert as Europe swelters in heatwave
A vicious heatwave has engulfed southern Europe, with punishing temperatures that have reached highs of 46C in Spain and placed almost the entirety of mainland France under alert. Extreme heat, made stronger by fossil fuel pollution, has for several days scorched Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece as southern Europe endures its first major heatwave of the summer. The high temperatures have prompted the authorities in several countries to issue new health warnings and scramble firefighters to prevent wildfires from breaking out. 'Extreme heat is no longer a rare event — it has become the new normal,' said António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, at a development conference in Seville on Monday. The southern Spanish city is forecast to roast in more than 40C heat for the next three days and face night-time temperatures of at least 25C until Thursday morning. Doctors have expressed alarm at the combination of hot days and uncomfortably warm nights, which can place a lethal stress on the human body. In Italy, where 21 out of 27 cities were placed on the highest heat alert on Sunday, hospital admissions in some of the hottest regions — such as Tuscany — are up 20%. People have been advised not to venture outside between 11am and 6pm. In France, heat warnings covered nearly the entire mainland for the first time in history. Météo-France has placed 88% of administrative areas under the second-highest orange heat alerts. 'This is unprecedented,' said the ecology minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Young swimmers jump into the water from a rock on a breakwater in Barcelona. Picture: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti The French government asked businesses to adapt staff hours to protect workers from the heat, and 200 public schools are to be partly or totally closed on Monday and Tuesday. The first fire of the summer broke out in France in the south-west of the country at the weekend, burning 400 hectares and leading to the precautionary evacuation of more than 100 people from their homes. In Spain, which has had the worst of the weather, a provisional June temperature record of 46C was set on Saturday afternoon in El Granado, in the Andalucían province of Huelva. The highest temperature previously recorded for June was 45.2C logged in Seville in 1965. Sunday was the hottest 29 June in Spain on record, according to records from Aemet, the Spanish meteorological agency, that stretch back to 1950. The heat is expected to last till Thursday. In Portugal, where seven of 18 regions are under red warnings of 'extreme risk', meteorologists expect the weather to cool down on Wednesday night. Countries farther north are also in danger. The German weather service has said heat and dry weather are stoking the risk of forest fires, with some cities imposing limits on water extraction as temperatures in parts of the country approach 40C by Wednesday. In Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, the government has urged employers to take the danger to their staff into account. 'Companies are bound by heat protection rules at the workplace,' the regional health minister Britta Müller said, including maintaining an acceptable temperature indoors and guarding against excessive sun exposure. The UK is projected to have temperatures of 34C in London and the south-east of England, with the British Met Office warning that high temperatures and humid conditions will be 'quite uncomfortable' for those working outside, as well as people attending the start of Wimbledon. Deaths due to heat Heat kills an estimated half a million people globally each year, with older people and those with chronic illness particularly vulnerable. The extreme temperatures across Europe are a result of a heat dome that is trapping an area of high pressure and hot air. It comes amid an ongoing marine heatwave that has left the Mediterranean 5C hotter than normal, according to data from the University of Maine's climate change institute. Dr Michael Byrne, a climate scientist at the University of St Andrews, said heat domes were nothing new but the temperatures they delivered were. 'Europe is more than 2C warmer than in preindustrial times, so when a heat dome occurs it drives a hotter heatwave,' he said. Doctors across the continent warned people to take extra care in the hot weather, encouraging them to stay out of the heat, drink lots of water, wear loose clothing and check in on vulnerable neighbours. Researchers estimate that dangerous temperatures in Europe will kill 8,000 to 80,000 more people by the end of the century, as the lives lost to stronger heat outpace those saved from milder cold. 'The planet is getting hotter and more dangerous,' said Mr Guterres, who called for more action to stop climate change. 'No country is immune.' The Guardian
